National Medal for Literature
The National Medal for Literature was a literary award recognizing an individual for distinguished and continuing contributions to American letters. First presented to Thornton Wilder by Lady Bird Johnson at a White House ceremony in 1965,[1] the award consisted of a cash prize of $15,000 and a bronze medal.[2]
The National Medal for Literature was established by the National Book Committee, a nonprofit society; other sponsors included the National Institute of Arts and Letters (1975–77), and the New York Public Library (1978, 1984).[3] The National Medal for Literature was typically presented as part of the National Book Awards, renamed the American Book Awards during the 1980s.[4]
The medal was not presented for 1974–75, nor 1982–83.[3] After a brief hiatus, the prize was effectively replaced in 1988 with the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, awarded by the National Book Foundation.
Medalists
- Thornton Wilder (1965)
- Edmund Wilson (1966)
- W.H. Auden (1967)
- Marianne Moore (1968)
- Conrad Aiken (1969)
- Robert Penn Warren (1970)
- E. B. White (1971)
- Lewis Mumford (1972)
- Vladimir Nabokov (1973)
- Allen Tate (1976)
- Robert Lowell (1977)
- Archibald MacLeish (1978)
- Eudora Welty (1979)
- Kenneth Burke (1980)
- John Cheever (1981)
- Mary McCarthy (1984)
See also
References
- ^ McDowell, Edwin. "American Book Awards are given for 22 works" New York Times May 1, 1981.
- ^ "Mary McCarthy Wins Medal for Literature" New York Times April 10, 1984.
- ^ a b National Medal for Literature in The Oxford Companion to American Literature
- ^ Fehrman, Craig. "Guilty Parties" New York Times Book Review October 30, 2011.
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